Monday, August 1, 2016


August 2016 is Write An Amazon Review Month! By @TerryTyler4 #AugustReviews
On Monday 25th July, book blogger Rosie Amber wrote this post encouraging readers and writers alike to post a short review on Amazon for any book they've read and enjoyed ~ following this up, Terry Tyler is starting this initiative along with other writer-bloggers including Rosie, Cathy from Between The Lines, Barb Taub, Shelley Wilson and Alison Williams.

The idea is that, from August 1st, everyone who reads this uses their Amazon account to post just one review on one book that they've read (but feel free to carry on if you get in the swing!).  You don't even have to have read it recently, it can be any book you've read, any time.  The book does not have to have been purchased from Amazon, though if it is you get the 'Verified Purchase' tag on it; however, if you download all your books via Kindle Unlimited, as many do these days, they don't show the VP tag, anyway.
Remember, this isn't the Times Literary Supplement, it's Amazon, where ordinary people go to choose their next £1.99 Kindle book.  No one expects you to write a thousand word, in-depth critique; I don't know about you, but I'm more likely to read one short paragraph or a couple of lines saying what an average reader thought of a book, than a long-winded essay about the pros and cons of the various literary techniques used.  Yes, those are welcome too (!), but no more so than a few words saying "I loved this book, I was up reading it until 3am", or "I loved Jim and Vivien and the dialogue was so realistic", or whatever!
Why should you write a review?
They help book buyers make decisions.  Don't you read the reviews on Trip Advisor before deciding on a hotel, or any site from which you might buy an item for practical use?  Book reviews are no different.
If the book is by a self-published author, or published by an independent press, the writers have to do all their promotion and marketing themselves ~ reviews from the reading public is their one free helping hand.
The amount of reviews on Amazon helps a book's visibility (allegedly).  If you love a writer's work and want others to do so, too, this is the best possible way of making this happen.
It's your good deed for the day, and will only take five minutes!
Off we go, then!  A few more pointers:
If you need any help with writing your review, do click on Rosie's post, above.
A review can be as short as one word.  The shortest one I have is just two :)
You don't have to put your name to the review, as your Amazon 'handle' can be anything you like.
No writer expects all their reviews to be 5* and say the book is the best thing ever written; there is a star rating guide on Rosie's post.
Would you like to tell the Twittersphere about your review?  If so, tweet the link to it with the hashtag #AugustReviews ~ and thank you!  I will do one blog post a week featuring these links: The #AugustReviews Hall of Fame (thank you, Barb!).

Blogged with permission from Rosie Amber and Terry Tyler, reviewers extraordinaire!


9 comments:

  1. I know you do, and I do, too. Right now, I'm reading a book that is so good, that I keep turning pages. Even though there are flaws in this book, I will still give it an excellent review just because it's a real entertaining thriller that at times has my hackles up and ready for battle. A lot of emotion is coming out as I read. It's a very long story, so it's taking me quite a while to read it. As to the flaws in the book? I will contact the author and tell him privately what I saw.

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    1. Good for you, Carole! Contacting the author, if possible, is productive and helpful. There's a big different between being honest and being mean. Some readers don't understand that, the way professional reviewers do.

      I used to write more reviews--but when Amazon started punishing authors for supporting other authors, I backed off. It's safer to post reviews on Goodreads, even though Amazon owns the site.

      The posts by Rosie Amber and Terry Tyler will encourage readers who'd like to leave reviews to find ways to do so. Authors should be thankful for reviewers/bloggers, who put a lot of time and effort into reviewing books without expecting anything in return.

      Happy reading and happy writing!

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  2. Reviews are so important, when Amazon started cracking down on reviews, I started posting them under my husband's account.
    And I'll be sharing this post, if no one minds. 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Merry, and please do! Glad you stopped by... :)

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  3. Thanks Merry, yes please do share.

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  4. Some authors alerted me to a couple of sites called Riffle Books and booklikes and both also allow to publish reviews. Booklikes even lets you have reading lists that you can share with others and you can friend other people . Goodreads can be quite nasty towards authors too unfortunately.

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    1. Thanks for sharing, Olga. I'm on Riffle, but not booklikes. And yes, both Amazon and Goodreads sometimes attract trolls. Nothing much we authors can do about that!

      Appreciate you stopping by and commenting... :)

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  5. Thank you for this post: as an author I do very much appreciate the honest reviews - even the 3 star ones, though why some people have to post negative things is beyond me. LOL the funniest 1 star I came across was someone complaining about a book that was 'all about encouraging children to eat candy'. The book? The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

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    1. Yes, Helen, it's sometimes surprising the things readers write in reviews...sometimes hurtful. We authors must develop the hide of a rhinoceros in order to survive! Still, we love our craft and enjoy telling stories. In the end, that's what writing s all about.

      Nice to see you here! :)

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